Senate Bill No. 524

(By Senators Love, Weeks and Smith)

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[Introduced February 13, 2003; referred to the Committee on Health and Human Resources; and then to the Committee on the Judiciary.]

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A BILL to amend article forty-two, chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section nine, relating to providing that when during the course of an abortion procedure a fetus is aborted alive, all available medical means be utilized to preserve its life; and prescribing criminal penalties for violations of the section.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article forty-two, chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section nine, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 42. WOMEN'S ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE ACT.
§33-42-9. Requirement to preserve life when fetus aborted alive.
In cases in which, during the course of an abortion procedure, a fetus is aborted alive, it is required that all available medical means be utilized to preserve, promote and maintain its life. Any person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one thousand nor more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned in a correctional facility for not less than one nor more than three years, or both fined and imprisoned. Nothing in this section may be construed or interpreted to endorse, allow, permit, or approve of any abortion.




NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that when, during the course of an abortion procedure, a fetus is aborted alive, that all available medical means be utilized to preserve its life. The bill would make a violation of the section a felony.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.